


Science and Love

by rsids



Category: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Gay, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-15 07:32:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10552484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsids/pseuds/rsids
Summary: Gabriel Utterson, a highly acclaimed lawyer, has been worried about his good friend Dr. Henry Jekyll. He hasn't seen Henry in months. What happened to the good doctor? Can Gabriel help him?





	1. A Sighting

It was a humid day, just like the rest of them had been that summer. I was walking along the main street downtown, near my favorite park. I had just finished up a meeting with a client who needed to finalize a will. After a hard day’s work, I decided to take a leisurely stroll...and, hoping to catch a glimpse of the seemingly absent doctor, my walk unconsciously took me toward his neighborhood. One of my oldest friends and dearest confidants had been missing for quite some time: even his poor butler had no inclination of his whereabouts.   
As I crossed the alley towards the infamous back door of my comrade’s lab, I felt a sense of emptiness. The doctor and I had grown closer than normal, closer than he and Dr. Lanyon had been (which was unusual, given their similar professions and close proximity). The doctor and I shared things that one wouldn’t share with their barber. Our fears and secrets, our hopes and dreams. I make us sound like school girls, but we were two peas in a pod.   
Shortly before the disappearance of the doctor, he expressed concerns about an experiment he was carrying out. He said the chemistry of the solution (a drug, I presume) was flawless, but the symptoms couldn’t yet be identified. He was worried about the outcome, but told me not to be concerned. Little did I know of the consequences I would face for trusting his word…  
As I passed the door, I noticed something. Something I hadn’t seen before. The window’s drapes were open! I passed this door more often then I’d like to admit, and nary had I seen the drapes open! Poole isn’t allowed into the Doctor’s quarters…he must be alright! Immediately after this thought crossed my mind the most miraculous thing happened: there was the doctor outside on the bench!   
I hurried over and frightened him at first.  
“Gabriel! You terrified me, sneaking up like that! But heavens it’s good to see you.” The doctor, despite his sickly appearance, seemed to be glowing. I sat at his side, soaking up his company.   
“Henry, it’s been nearly 3 fortnights! What has kept you so long?” I tried keeping the worry out of my voice, to no avail.   
“Yes, I’m afraid it has been too long. My dear Gabe, these past few weeks have been the sickest of hells…but perhaps I shouldn’t share.” The doctor turned away from me as if to hide his ill reaction to the mentioning of his whereabouts.  
“My dearest friend, what is it you keep from me? You should be well aware that nothing will tarnish my view of you.” I now pushed through sympathetic tones, hoping my friend would confide in me.  
“If you say so, Gabriel.” The doctor turned back towards me and told me a tale I could only dream up if I had a brick in my hat.   
He described the purpose of his experiment—to separate a man’s beautiful and ugly side into two alter egos. To accomplish this, the doctor needed to isolate the perfect serum out of the purest of elements. (I will not go into detail there, for I have no scientific experience). He finally found the right balance of chemicals and needed a test subject. Starting with a few rabbits, he injected various amounts of his serum. Unfortunately, after waiting a night, all of the rabbits seemed to be dead. Henry could not figure it out! His equations were balanced and his measurements were correct. Then, and only then, he realized he couldn’t use an animal for his trials. He would have to experiment on a human.  
This (quite obviously) posed a bit of a problem. The Hippocratic oath prevented such experiments, because it violated so many a doctor’s duties. But, the good doctor had a revelation: he could experiment on himself! He wouldn’t break his oath and the serum would work…or so he hoped.   
On a fateful June night, Henry injected himself with his own serum. I cannot describe the feeling he had when the reaction was being catalyzed, for he could not even put it into words, however he came out a different man. Rather than being the clean and respectable doctor he had been for most of his life, he was a short and dumpy character with ill intentions. Henry doesn’t remember much of that night, but he knew the next morning that all was not well.   
“Gabe, I tell you, it was the strangest of sensations! I woke up in my own bed, not remembering clearly how I got there! It was the queerest feeling, and one I should not like to feel again.” Following his narrative, the doctor broke out into fitful sobs. Attempting to recall the memories from that night had the poor man in ruins.  
I embraced him, holding on tightly until the tears subsided. When I released him, he looked into my eyes and mouthed a silent ‘thank you’. I still held his shoulders, and helped him off the bench.  
“I think it’s best to finish this conversation in the privacy of your home.” Escorting Henry over to the door was painful, for I could feel how frail and fragile he had become. The distance between the bench and the courtyard door was perhaps only 25 metres, yet the whole time was spent with the doctor leaning upon my shoulder.  
We stepped inside where there was an overwhelming stench of staleness and—besides the drapes that were open to the courtyard—the entire house was cloaked in darkness.   
“Excuse the mess,” the doctor said, while tidying up a bit, “I haven’t been…myself as of late.”  
“It’s perfectly all right Henry. I understand.” I grabbed his shoulder, a gesture in which to express my empathy with the man. After all, he had been going through a period of great turmoil.   
“Well, back to the science I suppose. Please, have a seat!” His face then darkened as he continued his tale, elaborating on the clues he gathered to piece together that dreadful night. “Now, I could speculate on what I had done that night—or rather what Hyde had done—but I shan’t think of it. It’d be easier to show you.”  
I panicked and rushed to the man’s side.   
“Oh no, Henry, I couldn’t ask you to do that. Please, just rest a while. You need to be healthy.” If I were to be honest I said this with my own best interest in mind, for I did not want to meet Mr. Hyde.   
“Gabriel…if you’re around much longer I won’t have to use the serum…sometimes I retire as myself and wake as Hyde. It’s out of my own control.” The look in his eyes terrified me so greatly that I could not bear to keep his gaze.   
“Gabe, please, you can leave me to go back to your home. I assure you, I’ll be quite alright.”   
“I will not. If you are to wake as Mr. Hyde, I shall be here to help you get back to yourself.” Henry laid down and I took his hand. He returned the gesture by squeezing mine. All that mattered was that he knew I was there.


	2. Later That Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night goes on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is a pretty short chapter. The next few should be juicy though!

As Henry slept fitfully, I warded off sleep as if it were the devil. I couldn’t let him wake up as Hyde while I was asleep. Not only would I be angry with myself, I would be vulnerable.   
Henry jerked awake suddenly.   
“Gabriel! Why on Earth are you still here? Not that I mind your company, but you do have clients to attend to in the morning, I presume?”  
“Well, yes, I have clients. But my ability to attend to them is far less important than your well-being, doctor.”   
At that moment, Henry stared into my eyes and I stared back into his.  
“Then please, if that is the case, sleep with me.”  
I was stunned. Yes, Dr. Jekyll and I were the closest of friends and I saw no harm in staying the night with him, but sharing a bed? Two men? This thought was almost incomprehensible.   
Conversely, it was not as if this thought had never crossed my mind. Many nights of mine have been spent thinking of Dr. Jekyll, and not in the platonic sorts. So, I accepted his offer.   
“Henry…what does this…I am not sure that I- “  
“It doesn’t have to lead to anything Gabriel. I would only very much enjoy your company.”  
I got into the bed next to Henry and found myself oddly comforted by his presence: comfortable enough to spoon with him. With my arms wrapped tightly around the good doctor’s midsection and my nose nestled lightly in his hair, the both of us fell into a fast and deep slumber.   
Later  
The next morning, I expected to wake next to a certain Dr. Jekyll, surprised to find the space next to me unoccupied.   
“Henry? Where have you run off to?”   
As soon as I inquired about him, I put the pieces from last night together. Henry must have awoken as Hyde!  
I quickly rushed to the doctor’s cabinet to see if he/Hyde was there. Once I arrived I heard moaning and wailing coming from inside the room. I tried the door, but it was locked.   
“Henry, it’s Gabriel! Please, open the door.”  
His voice was weak and strained. “Gabe, I would know your voice anywhere- “, he spoke between sobs, “but I’m afraid I can’t open the door.”  
“This is absurd. I am here to help. Just let me come through and you can explain it to me.”   
A long moment passed before the broken voice beyond the door said: “I know…you’re right…”, and the door opened with a quick swoosh.  
I stepped into his quarters carefully, and found a solemn and defeated man lying in fetal position on the cold wood floor. I knelt down and wrapped my arms around the doctor. He was freezing, his clothes were torn, and his eyes were swollen from crying all morning. I held him for a little while.   
“Gabriel…it…it happened again…Mr. Hyde m-made an appearance round half past two this morning…” Henry’s voice was weak and trembling as he began to tell me what happened to him.   
“Henry, please. Just take your time. We do not have to discuss Mr. Hyde if you do not wish.”  
“No, no I must! I must tell someone else so I do not die with it! And you, Gabriel…you’re the only one I would trust with this information.” The good doctor was stubborn and knew that I would always do as he wished. So, I stayed and listened again to another horrible tale.


End file.
